Blockchain community and SBF? Did they see it coming?

If the blockchain community can see all transactions - Did the they know what SBF was up to before the crash last year?

I’m trying to learn about Crypto and explain it to a friend. I only got into buying Bitcoin (and ATOM) after the crash and I watched Bitcoin fall to what felt like an exciting time to start getting involved. (Sorry to the early adopters who had to experience this).

I kind of am trying to understand this as I’m talking to a super smart friend who’s been a lawyer for three decades, and who believes Bitcoin is a scam. I’ve explained to him about how Bitcoin is mined on the blockchain, a cryptographic construction given by a mysterious genius to the world to develop, how it is decentralized, and what that means compared to the current centralized fiat system.

Also, trying to explain, that anyone who chooses to learn how to run a node can see every transaction everywhere on the chain, and sharing a bunch of other stuff I’m learning.

But it brought rise to my question at the top. Did the community see SBF’s muck up coming? Or was that the main reason why Crypto fans all say to keep your tokens off the exchange?

It’s not Satoshi’s or BTC’s fault that a scammer made an alt coin and produced an air of intoxicating success that lured in a bunch of suckers. Since I’m new, I’d like to understand this better, so I can explain it to my anti-Crypto friends…